Korean Thermostats-- or how does that thing work?

I would like to take a moment to introduce our thermostat as I don't believe you had the opportunity to meet before. Now, it seems pretty simple, and it really is not as complicated as it looks. That said, it's in Korean so it is a little bit of a challenge. 

When we first arrived here in late August 2012 we had no real need for it because it was still sort of hot out and we were still using the air conditioners off and on at that time. Our director instructed us how to turn the hot water on for when we shower by hitting the red button to turn the boiler on and then hitting the green button just above it for the hot water. Then when we finished we were told to turn it off by hitting the red button again. 

Since it's been getting cold we've bought ourselves hats and gloves, and I even got myself a snazzy purple scarf, but when you're inside that just doesn't cut it. So that means operating the thermostat (especially when the director is away on the weekends). She didn't really give me instructions aside from turning on the boiler (since they do floor heating here and warm water is pumped up through the building), so I was a little dumbfounded in trying to figure out how things work. 

I had the good fortune of stumbling upon a blog with a post titled My battles with the Thermostat which, while it wasn't the exact same image as our thermostat, it was similar enough once I figured out what I was looking for. If you need further assistance with similar thermostats, that's the place to go. I am so glad to have found it!

That said, the dials on the left side are easy to figure out. You have the current temperature reading on top, 16 degrees C is pretty cold for inside! The dial below that indicates the desired temperature, the one below that is the timer (so in this case the boiler will turn off after 3 hours), and finally, below that is the minimum and max temperatures for the water.

The buttons to the right are the confusing part. So with the assistance of the previously mentioned post I was able to figure out that top button is the "normal" setting, the one below it is the "sleep" setting, and the button above the red on/off/reset button is to turn on the hot water.

Apartment life in Cheongju

I forgot that we hadn't given you all the grand tour of the apartment! This is the current "spare bedroom" in the apartment, it's down the hall as you  enter from the lower levels.  This is also where we hang our clothes to dry since we lack in the dryer department. That's a Hello Kitty cover on the A/C and a hula hoop on the bed. You can also see part of a small chandelier above the bed, don't ask me.

First things first, this is our kitchen. The doorway on the right is how we get up and downstairs, etc. To the left, behind the refrigerator is another door that leads to our boss's rooms and a small bathroom. We did have two tables here before one of them was kidnapped and taken downstairs. It had our school prep stuff on it too. :(  To the right is the gas hot plate and the sink, etc. 

This is our room! We have our bed, computers, a small dresser, a cabinet, a desk, and a huge tv we don't/can't use. 

Since our tv is not used, it's turned into a shelf. I spy Lu Bu, a yogurt bank, an Archibald (the duck on the bank for those of you unfamiliar with our cats and Benny's love of the cute little things), a change basket, and a few other things. 

Just in case you need to make an emergency escape. 

The mosquito repellent thing is that blue egg shaped object while that is our snazzy power strip. 

This power strip looks surprised.

Our cabinet for miscellaneous things, including food. Also, alarm clock. 

This is closet number one. Clothes and various other things reside here. 

Closet number two has coats and shoes. 

We're rich! No, we just have some spare change lying around. 

I like walking around barefoot as much as the next person, but these floors remind me of college dorms. I prefer to not walk around and have icky feet if I can help it. 

This is part of our bathroom. No showers here, you take a shower in the whole bathroom. 

The rest of the bathroom. You can see the drain in the floor and we use the green squeegee to get rid of all the excess water on the floor so it's not super wet when you step inside. That or you wear some sort of shoes, or both. 

The view from our room looking out into the hallway. The green on the left is the closet and the other green thing is our laundry basket. 

The whiteboard in the room. It has schedules for each day, some drawings, some websites, and some music ideas for our older elementary girls. Oh, and a rainbow squid colored by Stella in the right corner.